I'm back from my depressive break! As of yesterday, actually. By depressive break, I mean the one and a half week period in which I did little more than sleep about 16 hours a day and read while taking painfully hot baths. The fact that I was reading Revolutionary Road did not help my mood, either. It's a great book, but painful in its cynical truthfulness. So obviously, I fell off the wagon for this block (Neurology), but I am quickly and desperately climbing my way back on.

Other books I read last week/early this week:
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls--a memoir about a successful writer for MSNBC who was brought up by nomadic parents in neglectful circumstances. I loved this book because I was at once enthralled by the adventure and romance of her childhood, and appalled that parents could be so selfish and immature.
The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery--a true story about a pig named Christopher Hogwood who is one of the few farm pigs that have been allowed to live out a happy life. This book cheered me up considerably! Except of course, Christopher Hogwood dies in the end at a ripe old age of 11...or 12.

Things that are on my mind right now: Should I quit school now, before the OSCE exams after spring break? Or wait till later so I can ostensibly take a year off before making the final break?
The OSCE exams are when I will have to perform a physical exam on 10 different standardized patients in 3 hours, while being spied upon by cameras who will grade my performance. Basically, my worst nightmare. I would rather do almost anything than do physical exams. The mere thought of it makes my vision staticky and my head dizzy. The invasion of personal space is just too much to handle.
But I would feel even more like a failure if I quit now instead of later...

The stress of these past weeks have increased my social fears, and I am currently at the point where I can't stand to feel anyone looking at me. I just had to go down to the cafeteria during lunch hour to get food, and the crowd of people was too much.

When will this be over? I can't go on.

Something I actually enjoyed while studying today: this picture of what people with migraines sometimes see before they get a migraine.